Method of packing cigars



March 6, 1945. K. E. GRANSTEDT 2,370,791 I METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Filed Sept. 26, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 c/W, i'aa/ll 5. M121 5? K. E. GRANSTEDT METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS March 6, 1945.

Filed Sept. 26, 1941 9 SheetsSheet 2 March 6, 1945. G N T 2,370,791

METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Filed Sept. 26, 1941 9 sheets-sheets March 6, 1945.

K. E. GRANSTEDT 2,370,791

METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Filed Sept. 26, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 L 1 H I l I 44w/' 1 Z M March 6, 1945. A TE T 2,370,791

METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Filed Sept. 26, 1341 9 Sheets-Shet 5 rc 1945- K. E. GRANSTEDT 2,370,791

METHOD 01. PACKING CIGARS Filed Spt. 26, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet s March 6,1945. K, E, RA D 2,370,791

METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Filed Sept. 26, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 March 6, 1945.

K. .E. GRANSTEDT METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS Flled Sept. 26. 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 March 6, 1945.-

Filed Sept. '26. 1941 K. E. GRANSTEDT .METHOD OF PACKING CIGARS 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 ular, particularly if Patented Mar. 6, 194

' U PACKING CIGARS Karl Erik Granstedt, Stockholm, Swedemassignor to. Aktiebolaget Formator, Stockholm, Sweden, a Swedish joint-stock company Applicationseptember 26 :In' Sweden, Nov

IClaim. -(Cl. 131-107 Thisinvention relates tovthe packing ofcigars, cigarillos or similar articles of tobacco. In a method hitherto used .for packing cigars the cigars are placed manually in'open, rectangular pockets of wooden molds,qupon which are placed covers that are drawn tight'to subjectthe cigars to pressure action and impart to each portion of cigars in a 'pockctthe desired shape and size.

F'or that purpose the filledmolds are assembled inlpiles, for some after the mold covers are removed :and-thecigars arepicked out of the ocketsand packed. "In this method, the cigars are likely to-be injured bythe. cover when the latter applied 'to the and thecigarsare suba'ected to-pressure mold, and, :furthermore, it might happen thatv the longitudinal edges of thecigars become-irregthe -mold cover. has been used for sometime and, is worn out to someextent. Furthermore, this known method is tern.- ous and troublesome, and large spaces-are necessary for the storage of the molds and for their placing at the difierent stations of operation.

In the mechanical packing, some of the1abovementioned drawbacks are overcome, buttheattempts hitherto madeto pack mechanically have not been successful, since suincient time was not available to impart to the cigars their final size and shape, i. e. to make them setbefore they are packed, i. e. introduced into a'box or other envelope. i

It, is anob-ject of thepresent invention to make provision for mechanically packing cigars, cigarillos or similar articles of tobacco, whereby the portions of cigars or the like will nevertheless obtain a substantiallypermanent size and.

shape, before they are introduced into thejibox or other envelope.- Thus the present-invention relates to a method for the purpose referred to, in which the advantages of both the known methods are utilized, whereas their drawbacks are not present.

time until the portions have set, where+.

1941, Serial No.412,5cs ember 15,1940

Thus the filled may be heated ItOfdlY and set the porcigars or the like in said casings.) The cles to boxes orsother envelopes. casings tions of casings are resistant .to rough treatment. .Therefore,-each group of.'cigars:can be treated conveyed and packed) practically as if. itwere a rigidtarticle. It can berconsidered substantiallyas resistant to .rough treatment as any hollow metal article. The cigargroups canbe taken or conveyed from a portioning and-com- '(dried,

pressing device as rigid "packings' (i. e.- coveredby rigid casings), stored,jdried and thereafter supplied to the packing machine'as articles insensibleito shocks and other external action. The deviceforthefilling, transport and emptying iof-lthe casings is'ivery common-inexpensive andeasy to manage. Theempty or ,filledcasings can be fed'through funnels,,chutes-or any means for feeding pieces. -The cigar groups enclosed in the-moldrcasings can beforetheir packing'be easily stored and conveyed tothe packing machine'practically irrespective of the ,eX- tent of thespace available in the factory. Furthermore, .the' cigars can be driedrapidly and neverthelessgentlm-sothat theentire process is accelerated. For example, the casingswith their contents can be'piled upin a .drying chamber, so that the heating air will be brought into a much -.better=contact with the cigars than if the The cigar groups may each consist of any sliiiable number of cigars," cigarlllos, or. the like, or of a. single'tobacco article, which-obtains :itsfinal shape before :it packed, for instance enclosed in an envelope. The method accordingto theinvention can be performed-in a particularly simple and efficient manner it the tobacco articles are introduced into tubularmold channels of still casings. whereafter said casings are removed. from their filling station and stored to dry and make the'cigars setpwhereaiter said casings areins'erted into a packing machine in which they are emptied by transferring the artilatter were enclosed in wooden molds which, besides-absorb much heat.

like can be given-practically any desiredshape, which is not possible if the known divided woodenmolds are used. I

convenientlypthe cigars, orthe like are fed in a row side bysideto a compressing station and inspected during their traveland turned or transposed, so that the cigars or the like of each portion that is fed, to the compressing station are smooth and substantiallyof thesame tintat theiruppen-visible surfaces By this .stepof. the'grouping it will be'possible to obtainan upper surface having, auniform and rapidly than whenusing the old wooden molds. Conveniently, their correct can be controlled.

The accompanying drawings show by way of; example-a device for carrying out the invention;

Figfil is a ,plan view or in which mold casings are a grouping machine, filledzw ith groups of cigars. I

Figs. 21205 are vertical sectional ,viewstaken The casings can have anycdesiredinterior-shape, i. e. the-cigars orthe I attractive tint," even though the groupingis efiected much more the casings are marked so that positionsin the packing machine appearances as to their upper surface is as smooth as possible. The roller on the lines II-II, III-III, IV-IV and V-V, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a side view in of Fig. 1.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of a packing machine, in which the cigar groups are expelled from the mold casings and packed.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the packing machine in the direction of the line VIII-NIH of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view on the line IX-IX of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a mold casing for a cigar portion. v

Finished cigars or cigarillos A are fed transversely as a row on an endless conveyor belt I (Figs. 1, 2 and 6) which moves stepwise five cigars into position in front of a pusher 2 which is connected to a lever 3 that is driven by'a cam disc 5 secured to the main drive shaft 4 of the machine. During their travel on the belt I the cigars are inspected and if needed turned and transposed, so that juxtaposed cigars adapted to form the upper layer of a portion have similar tints and so that their the direction VI-VI 30 for driving the belt I is secured to a rotary shaft 3| to which is secured a ratchet wheel 32. A lever 33 is turnably mounted on the shaft 3| and provided with a pawl 34 for driving the ratchet wheel 32. For that purpose the lever 33 is pivoted to a link 35 which, in turn, is pivoted to a lever arm 36 actuated by a cam disc 31 secured to a rotary shaft 9. In front of the pusher 2 at the opposite side of the conveyor belt I is arranged a pocket 6 down and adapted to receive a group of cigars. The pocket 6 is mounted on a rod I which is moved up and down by a cam disc 8. i The cam disc 8 is secured to the shaft 9, which by means of a gear I is connected to the drive shaft 4. Primarily,the pocket 6 is in a position somewhat higher than that shown in Fig. 5, and then the pusher 2 transfers five cigars from the conveyor belt I to the bottom portion of the pocket. Thereafter the pocket 6 is moved downwards into the position shown in Fig. simultaneously as the conveyor belt I advances one step to move five cigars into the position in front of the pusher 2 which transfers them to the pocket 6, so that they rest upon the five cigars already introduced into said pocket. The complete portion thus comprising ten cigars is open-ended tubular mold casing II, but first the cigar group is to be given substantially the same shape as the interior shape of the said casing. K

To this end, the pocket 6 is elevated into a level with a pusher I2, which is connected to a lever I3 that is reciprocated by a cam disc I4 secured to the shaft 4. The pusher IZtransfers the cigar group into a compressing device which has a bottom plate I5, an upper compressing plate I1, and two oppositely disposed side walls I6 which are periodically movable towards each other. The side walls are first moved towards each other by lever arm i8, which are driven by a cam disc I9 secured to the shaftjB, and the plate I1 is moved down by a lever arm 20, which is connected to a link rod 2! which is reciprocated by another cam disc 22 secured to the shaft 9. After the side walls I6 have been moved inwards and the plate I1 downwards they form together with the bottom plate I5 an open-ended tubular compressing channel the interior width of which is slightly less than that of'the mold casing II. Simultaneously as the walls l6 and plate I! are which is movable up and :r

to be introduced into an moved towards each other a casing II is moved into position in front of the compressing channel formed by the walls l6 and plates I5 and IT. The casings ll are stored as a pile in a chute 23 at the bottom end of which is operative a pusher 24 which is advanced periodically to form a bottom of the chute 23, as shown in Fig. 4. The pusher 24 is reciprocated by a lever arm 25 which is actuated by a cam disc 21 secured to'the shaft 9. When the pusher 24 is retracted the pile of casings II descends so that an empty casing occupies a position in front of said pusher. Thereafter the pusher 24 is advanced and displaces said casing as well as the row of empty and filled casings II resting upon a table 28, whereby an empty casing is brought into its cigar receiving 'position opposite to the compressing channel formed by the walls I6 andplates I5 and I1.

From this channel the compressed cigar portion is expelled and introduced into the casing II by the pusher I2 immediately after the pressure upon the portion has been released by moving the walls It apart and lifting the plate I! slightly, so that the said compressing channel obtains the same interior width as the casing II. When another casing I I is moved into position to receive a cigar portion the casing just having been filled is displaced upon the table 28 from which the filled casings are successively picked up or drop off to be collected and stored in a receptacle, for instance.

After'the mold casings II with their contents of cigars, cigarillos or the like have been stored for some time in a receptacle or pile or in other suitable manner the groups of cigars or the like have become dried and have shrunk somewhat,

i. e. they have set into their final condition for packing, so that they can easily be expelled from the casings II. The casings II with their contents are placed or thrown, for instance into a receptacle of the packing machine, which in the present embodiment consists of a chute 4B which is open at its bottom end and in which the easings II are piled up. Below the chute 40 is movable a pusher 4|, which is reciprocated to periodically form a bottom supporting the pile of casings I I. The pusher 4| is pivotally connected to a lever arm 42 which is reciprocated by a cam disc 44 secured to a driving shaft 43. When the pusher M is retracted, the pile of casings in the chute 48 descends, so that the lowermost filled casing II occupies a position upon a table 45 in front oi the pusher 4|. When the pusher 4| advances, it displaces the row of casings II on the table 45, whereby the foremost filled casing of the row is brought into its delivery position opposite to an expeller 46. The expeller 46 is pivotally connected to a lever arm 47, which is reciprocated by a cam disc 48 secured to the shaft 43. An open box B is held in position in front of the expeller 46 at one side of the table 45, or it may be moved into such position by a conveyor. The group of cigars is transferred by the expeller 46 from the-casing II into the box B, in which said group is packed. Thereafter, the casing II is moved further upon the table 45 and removed from the machine in any suitable manner and transferred to the device for filling the casing with another group of cigars or the like.

I claim:

The method. of treating groups of cigars or the like, preparatory to their packaging, comprising advancing the cigars in a row side by side, inspecting the cigars, turning and transposing the cigars until juxtaposed cigars of said row have substantially the same shade at their upper visible surfaces, separating consecutive groups of cigars from said row and subjecting the groups to a compression of short duration in a compressible rectangular mold for flattening their upper surfaces, moving open-ended inflexible mold cells intoposition facing said rectangular mold, pushing said groups as unitsout of said compressible mold directly into the mold cells while maintaining the relative positions of the cigars, storing the cells together with the cigar v groups until the group has set and assumed substantially the same cross sectional shape as the cells, and then expelling the groups of cigars from said cells to be packaged. I

KARL ERIK GRANS'I'EDT. 

